Sunday, July 30, 2017

Every spring, I get the itch to clean and throw things away. Today, I cleaned out files and files of old papers and shredded them. They didn't have sensitive information on them but I shredded them anyway. The reason? I let the paper shredded do all the work for me of tearing up all that paper into smaller, manageable bits so I can grind them up in my blender with water. It's time to make recycled handmade paper!

It's the best way I know to recycle, and I get such lovely items out of all that unwanted paper. This week, I made lots and lots of cat faces mounted onto card stock. The paper has Chinese Forget-Me-Not seeds in it so it's the perfect sympathy card. Buy it here.

Friday, July 7, 2017

I think I have hit my cap for using social media. I can't seem to juggle more than one or two accounts, especially since I would rather be making art than using technology. First I started this blog. Then, I had a twitter account for my business that went silent went I started a FaceBook account. I starting using the Updates feature on Etsy, which is another former of marketing and social media. Most recently, I got onto Instagram and this blog has been the fatality for the time I now spend in the two new forms of promoting. I can only juggle so much, it seems. The good thing is that I am using different avenues of social media for different area of my art businesses so you will see some repetition but a lot of new stuff if you look at me everywhere.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Shops that have a focus or a theme are interesting places at which to shop. I have always been drawn to a shop that has a clear mission or vision, that takes a niche and commits to it. And here's a really neat concept for a shop: carry handmade items from all 50 states. Fifty Home in Concord, NH is doing just that. And why do I care? Because I am now one of the artists represented from the state of New York.

Concord Business Embraces Made-in-the-USA Trend

Published Friday, May 13, 2016
by Grace Dean

The buy local movement has gained momentum, and press, in recent years in direct response to the explosion of big box stores with cheaper items made oversees. Annie Clark is part of that movement, but with her own twist. Shoppers at Fifty Home in Concord are not only choosing a local merchant, they are choosing one who carries at least one item from each of the 50 states.

“My motto is, buy quality. Care about what your purchases are made of, and you’ll have a better product along with supporting your community,” says Owner Annie Clark of her home goods store, located across from the Statehouse in Concord.

Clark, a former interior designer, opened Fifty Home last summer with an inventory of goods not carried by any of the chain stores that dominate the U.S. market. That is because Fifty Home’s inventory includes at least one product from each of 50 states, and is currently expanding to include 50 more products made locally in NH. The store’s colorful shelves are lined with everything from handmade pillows and non-toxic dog toys to tote bags made of recycled yoga mats. Most of the goods are either homemade by an independent seller or produced by a small-scale manufacturer.

When Clark first opened she spent time searching Google for products made in the USA and on peer-to-peer online marketplaces such as Etsy and Grommet, where independent producers can sell handmade or vintage products directly to retailers, to source her products. “Now that I am up and running I have people knocking on my door with products to sell,” Clark says. Fifty Home has a website, but 90 percent of sales are in the brick and mortar store.

According to Clark, relying on websites like Etsy does more than provide the store with an exclusive supply of goods. It also promotes the values of small business within the national community. “The mother in Virginia who is trying to sell a homemade product suddenly has a legitimate business with the help of our retail store buying wholesale from her,” says Clark.

Clark and her husband, Jim, are currently the only employees. They work full time at Fifty Home and also work part time at their other business, The Black Bear Micro Roastery, which they have operated out of Tuftonboro for the last 20 years. Every customer at Fifty Home receives a fresh-brewed cup of coffee and as each customer checks out at the register, Clark tells them where and how each product they purchased was made.

Fifty Home just opened last year, but Clark already has a vision of expansion and new locations. “What I really want to see is a Fifty Home in every state, with each store having 50 items from that specific state as well as at least one item from every other state,” she says.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

I have sold my work on and off at DEPARTURE (aptly named since it is located in the Albany International Airport) on and off for years but haven't had anything in there for a while. But today, I dropped off a bunch of my Petal People cards. DEPARTURE is a truly unique store. It is dubbed "The Shop of Capital Region Museums" because shop manager Bonnie Alexander patrols galleries and museums looking for new local art to sell there. She found me years ago through my display at an artisans cooperative and I have always been tickled to see my work as I grab a flight and head out of town. The shop is located pre-security on the first floor of the terminal between Ticketing and Baggage Claim.

Here's how DEPARTURE is described:

DEPARTURE features fine hand-crafted gifts, artwork, and historic materials from more than 60 regional museums and cultural institutions. All purchases help support local artists and participating museums.Since opening in 2000, DEPARTURE has generated more than $1.5 million in revenue for the participating organizations. From The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls to the National Racing Museum in Saratoga Springs; MASS MoCA in North Adams to The Clark in Williamstown, DEPARTURE represents all that exemplifies the unique character of the Capital Region, including the country's oldest museum, the Albany Institute of History and Art and the first Shaker settlement's Shaker Heritage Society in Albany.

Whether or not one can visit all of these great cultural destinations, a single stop at DEPARTURE offers a sampling of gifts that reflect each museum's mission and heritage. Special collections of jewelry, pottery and textiles, historic prints and books, as well as artisan-made home decor and accessories are also featured, making DEPARTURE a one-stop exploration of the Region's most significant cultural offerings.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

I have a great featured artist spread in a local home and garden magazine, Simply Saratoga, published by Saratoga Today newspapers. Check it out. You can see me working in my studio and read about my journey creating garden-inspired art in my lovely town of Saratoga Springs, NY.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Two new wholesale accounts in 24 hours. Woo hoo! The hard work pays off and sneaks up on you when you least expect it. I am now selling my Petal People cards at Whims & Whatnots in Greenland, NH. Find them on FaceBook or, better yet, visit in person!